Came across this little generator today. Very useful in generating codenames for operations and projects, be they espionage, or military actions; think Operation Gothic Serpent, or Project Blue Book... now you can have Operation Field Gazelle and Project Orange Drought.
I give you:
Project Codename.
Showing posts with label campaign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label campaign. Show all posts
20160303
Housekeeping
Slight overhaul of the blog design yesterday. It seems the template I use is not fully supported anymore, particularly the wallpaper has been discontinued. So a quick modification of the banner and a drop in of the Delta Green web-kit background have brought things back to a look i am content with. the delta green background is particularly fitting, I think, as this blog was started six years ago as a campaign chronicle and web-supplement for my Delta Green campaign.I also painted up an 18th miniature last night - he was all I got done yesterday. I wasn't feeling great yesterday morning, so after dropping the kids at school I laid down for a two hour nap that ended when my daughter came home from school. Anyway, a Copplestone Casting's biker from the Future Wars line to go with the one I painted last week.
Oh and happy news yesterday that Copplestone Castings sales and ordering will be managed by Northstar from the 14th of this month (which is the day before payday, woot!). This puts most of my favorite lines (Northstar, Artizan, Crusader, and Copplestone) in the same online shopping basket. Woot!
20150619
Qumari Police Emblem
I've started binge-watching all the West Wing episodes featuring Qumar to glean as much of it as I can. I'm fairly certain that it is an Arabic speaking nation rather than Farsi, despite being carved from what in our world is Southern Iran (Al No'mari played Abdul Ibn Shareef, and spoke to President Bartlett in what can be assumed to be his native tongue, I have yet to check with someone more knowledgeable about whether that was Arabic or Farsi, but given No'mari's heritage, Arabic seems more likely). Assuming the Arabic language, and reflecting Qumar's status as a former British Protectorate, this is my first draft of the Royal Police insignia for the police car doors (RQP cars will look like a cross between Kuwaiti Traffic Police and Iraqi Police designs).
20150410
Making modifications to 'the only fantasy world map you'll ever need' because I needed more Africa and Asia. Still debating where to put my Skraelings... in a pocket in the moutains of what would be Asia, or off the map to the west.
Originals by EotBeholder:
20150324
Fantastic Heraldry
Quite busy with the move. All hobby supplies (save one little EM4 mini sitting by the computer) have been packed and mostly transported. Even the computer is gone... I type now on an old laptop. Going to be like this for a while, until summer when the house is complete, and we've unpacked.
Until then, I've been worldbuilding the old fashioned way... in spiral notebooks. Getting ideas together in anticipation of my kids playing D&D...
So, since I have a moment, here is what I've been working on:
Under the Imperial system there were seven castes; commoners, yeomanry, gentry, peerage, nobility, royalty, sovereignty (listed in ascending order).
Commoners were not granted, and not permitted, arms of their own.
Yeomanry were permitted a simple arms of 3 complexity points. Each color, charge, field division, and non-standard line was worth one point. Thus, upon entrance to a military order, a new knight was granted arms, typically in the Order's colors, featuring a single charge, division, or ordinary. For example: Argent, a cross sable (3 points = 2 colors + 1 cross).
Gentry. Should an exceptional knight be awarded a holding, he or she was authorized an additional point of complexity (4 points total). In this case our knight added an ordinary: chief sable. The most common modification was to add a line of division and countercharge.
Peerage. Attaining a position in the this caste was difficult, and those who attained it were awarded another TWO complexity point (6 points total). In the case of our knight, she has added three griffon heads, in a third color, to the chief; the number of heads is immaterial as the group is counted as a whole.
Nobility. Again as our knight advances in status, she is awarded the right to make her Arms more complex (7 points of complexity in all) as well as the right to use a bordure - in this case she has altered the line on the chief.
Royalty. Really getting up there now. Royals are permitted another point of complexity (total of 7 pts.) and the use of furs. Our knight has chosen to alter the field to ermine.
Sovereignty. The top level has no real limits on what they can or cannot do, however there are no known examples of an arms bearing more than eight points of complexity - represented here in with a bordure or.
Of course the addition of complexity was a privilege not a requirement, and there were humble knight-kings who bore simple arms of three complexity points.
Until then, I've been worldbuilding the old fashioned way... in spiral notebooks. Getting ideas together in anticipation of my kids playing D&D...
So, since I have a moment, here is what I've been working on:
Fantasy World Heraldry Guidelines (WIP)
Under the Imperial system there were seven castes; commoners, yeomanry, gentry, peerage, nobility, royalty, sovereignty (listed in ascending order).
Commoners were not granted, and not permitted, arms of their own.
Of course the addition of complexity was a privilege not a requirement, and there were humble knight-kings who bore simple arms of three complexity points.
20120918
Alarm für Anton Zwölf
It's been a busy month - not much gaming or painting in September. Getting ready for a big move and a promotion at work. I did pick up an XBox 360 and a couple games this week though, and I've been playing Autobahn Polizei a lot.
I'm thinking that it would make a fun table top game, and would go well with all of the Siku and Majorette cars I have collected over the years - not to mention the Need For Speed Mega Bloks. The game is based on Alarm für Cobra 11, a comedy/action/drama from German TV network RTL. Essentially it is equal parts Starsky & Hutch, CHiPs, and CSI combined with the kind of explosive car chases you might find in a Michael Bay movie. It's not particularly complicated: Two autobahn police detectives (yes highway patrol "detectives") chase and investigate the crimes of bad guys intent on causing great harm, resulting in gratuitous automotive destruction. In a recent episode terrorists stole a truckload of Botox in order to poison the city's water supply (Botox is derived from botulism), and the main characters alone went through three cars in stopping the plot.
Car action is a genre that I particularly am drawn to. But one that is a bit hard to do on the table top. Speed Rally is a great game for Speed Racer type races, but lacks the RPG aspects needed for a crime-fighting campaign. A few years back I did do some Death Race-type highway combat based on Savage Worlds chase rules. I think it would make a good start point, but that means I need some vehicle stats - and for this genre, generic vehicle types just won't do.
I'm thinking that it would make a fun table top game, and would go well with all of the Siku and Majorette cars I have collected over the years - not to mention the Need For Speed Mega Bloks. The game is based on Alarm für Cobra 11, a comedy/action/drama from German TV network RTL. Essentially it is equal parts Starsky & Hutch, CHiPs, and CSI combined with the kind of explosive car chases you might find in a Michael Bay movie. It's not particularly complicated: Two autobahn police detectives (yes highway patrol "detectives") chase and investigate the crimes of bad guys intent on causing great harm, resulting in gratuitous automotive destruction. In a recent episode terrorists stole a truckload of Botox in order to poison the city's water supply (Botox is derived from botulism), and the main characters alone went through three cars in stopping the plot.
Car action is a genre that I particularly am drawn to. But one that is a bit hard to do on the table top. Speed Rally is a great game for Speed Racer type races, but lacks the RPG aspects needed for a crime-fighting campaign. A few years back I did do some Death Race-type highway combat based on Savage Worlds chase rules. I think it would make a good start point, but that means I need some vehicle stats - and for this genre, generic vehicle types just won't do.
20120808
Arasaka Corporation Ltd.
The Arasaka Corporation is the primary antagonist of R. Talsorian's Cyberpunk RPG. I love this game. It was pretty much all I played in junior and senior high school. I've been continually amazed at how prophetic both Cyberpunk and Robocop have been over the last twenty years. I noticed when the Pittsburgh Police started driving Ford Tauruses. The rise of the PMC and Blackwater. The Citizen's United verdict greatly increasing the rights and powers of corporations, and the financial disaster precipitated by virtually unchecked corporate greed. A decade of warfare leaving millions dead, and thousands of veterans disabled; The rise of advanced prosthetic technology, biofuels, and near universal computing access. We live in the dark future.
Of course the game (written in 1988 and set between 2013-20) has had some misses as well. Fax machines are not the epitome of digital publishing technology. Hacking is still more Wargames than Tron. And true cybernetic prosthesis are awaiting the nerve-circuit connection.This has left me with some choices in running Cyberpunk. I don't want to run it as written - it's too retro. Revamping the timeline and pushing the action into the 2050s or beyond is a possibility that, I think, engenders a more sci-fi mise-en-scène bordering into transhumanism. The option I'm left with is an adapted modern setting... merely a couple years in the future. The world is as it is now, a bit darker, with more cyberware (no full 'borgs, cyberpsychosis is still being identified), and technology and equipment that we see everyday - perhaps a more than a little inspired by Millennium's End. I think of this as the Robocop version of Cyberpunk.
The more I think of this the more appropriate it sounds. The first edition of the game was set in 2013 - next year! A low tech campaign requires very little modification to adapt it to the modern day. My favorite miniatures (Copplestones and EM4) have a rather modern look, and mix well with my fleet of modern vehicles. Such a setting requires less preparation for a adult rather than teenage players - who have less time to read background. It's now, but with robotic limb replacements.
So I guess I have some work to do... What stays the same, what changes, what needs to be added, and what dropped? Do we play with Interlock, or with Savage Worlds powered Daring Tales of the Sprawl or Ghost Protocol rules?
Cyberpunk NOW
R. Talsorian’s Cyberpunk 2020 was a watershed game for me.
At a comic book convention in 1991, I picked up a bootleg of Akira and Appleseed. This quickly lead to Cyberpunk SWAT gaming – powered by the only modern rules we had – Palladium. We’d been playing Palladium for a while in a Macross game (Robotech with all the Macek inspired crap stripped back out) and I grabbed Ninja’s & Superspies to use as a basis. Well, as anyone who’s ever played a Palladium game can tell you – the rules suck. It embodies the worst of power gaming and is inconsistent. Following an adventure where I’d emptied a 30rd mag from my M16 into a terrorist’s chest at close range, and a 30mm grenade… leaving the man wounded but still in the fight – we decided to look elsewhere.
Relating the adventure to some fellow (sadder and older) geeks, we were turned on to Cyberpunk 2020. I ordered a copy immediately. It was the only thing I played for about 5 years and then it shared time with Star Trek gaming.Eventually I fell out of Cyberpunk gaming… the late 90′s made a dystopian future seem improbable. Crime was down, economy was good.
Suffice it to say that the last decade has done much to validate the Cyberpunk premise.
And I have returned to Cyberpunk. Last month we began a Cyberpunk game, two characters were generated using Interlock, but with an influx of players we switched to Savage Worlds in order to get down to playing. The game is pretty much ad hoc and I’m still figuring out what exactly to do with it. Do I stick with Savage Worlds, or do I Interlock up the new players and run Cyberpunk rules. Very different play styles, CP is extremely deadly and a bit crunchy. Savage Worlds is rules light and cinematic. Do I update the setting, the timeline? Cyberpunk play was set between 2013-2020. The way I see it I have three choices:
1. Play the Cyberpunk Setting as written – RetroDark Future
2. Advance the timeline adapt the tech (no faxes) to reflect modern cyberpunk a’la the new Total Recall, Red Faction, and Deus Ex.
3. Play modern cyberpunk, the Dark Future is now (or tomorrow) basically a darker version of today with emergent cybernetics (the Robocop option).
Of these three I’m drawn to the second two. I have lots of modern vehicles and minis, and many older cyberpunk minis (Copplestones, EM4 et cetera) lend themselves more to the Robocop style of cyberpunk than the universe of Infinity. This does mean a bit of a drawdown in tech – basic cybernetics – full borgs very , very, very rare. Netrunning becomes more like hacking, the game ends up being Millennium’s End with cybertech like that in I Robot. If I want to preserve those two aspects of the tech I need to advance the timeline and end up with a more sci-fi type universe (Lockout, Total Recall, and Infinity).
If I go the Robocop option I can keep Saburo Arasaka… hmmm… I think that’s the ticket.
20120613
Terrene Map – NW Continent
New group of players about to start a Castles & Crusades campaign. I’m looking forward to some old-school dungeon crawls (kill things, steal their stuff). While I don’t have an overarching theme for the campaign (other than “kill monsters, steal their stuff”), I have been plotting out a campaign map – which has tied into something I’ve been toying with for years.
I was living in Kaga when Ace Combat 5: Unsung War came out and I snatched it up and poured through it. I really enjoyed the fictional world of “Strangreal” – and it struck me as a fantasy RPG world brought out of the mythic era into the modern age. Since that time I’ve wanted to make something similar. Now I have the chance.
The map above focuses on the pseudo-EuroAfrican continent. In the Mythic Age the major powers will include a Teutonic empire, a Skraeling dominated wildland, and a Moorish/Spanish kingdom.
UPDATE – 17 JUNE 2012
Well, I killed the party 4 times, with goblins and two gnolls. The farthest they made it from their cell was room 5. Basically old school D&D had a certain Darwinian aspect to it – you rolled your character (including those 1st level HP) and if you died you rolled up a new one and he/she was found bound and gagged in the next room. But newbie RPGs are all “I like my character,” and eschew replacing the horribly weak, evolutionary dead-end, characters. Instead they just want you to give them more HPs. Yep, “give.” WTF?
Soooo Castles & Crusades was a bust, since the game was hosted at one of the players apartments, and he was particularly un-fond of D&D – in an effort to appease and find a better fit with the play-style of the group – we decided to return to our Delta Green/Realms of Cthulhu game.
Yes – D&D was too deadly so we are going to go with Cthulhu… I know.
Still this is cool for me – I started blogging to support my Delta Green campaign and that blog was expanded to become 10x28mm. It’s a nice return to home in a way. My host gets to shoot things (his request), most people have characters already, and I get to put them in mortal/preternatural danger on a regular basis.
20120514
State of DisUnion
So visitors to this blog (admittedly a very small group as I don’t
think even my players pop in – so basically that means “me”) will notice
that I really suck at keeping a blogging schedule. I’m full of
intention – “blog posts every Tuesday from now on” but always fall
behind. This was originally compounded by the fact that I would make
separate blogs for different RPG projects… when a project was shelved
the blog would go months (or years) without an update. In my general
effort to degooglfy my existence (screw your privacy agreement Google) I
decided to combine the archives of my 6-7 Blogger blogs into this blog
about a month or so ago.
And then I didn’t post anything for a while… I fixed some tags and reuploaded some pics that got lost in the transfer (though there is still more to fix) but that was it.
So
what has been going on… well I have more interviews that don’t result
in full-time employment. My son had his first birthday. I’ve run a few
Daring Tales of the Sprawl (Savage Worlds cyberpunk) games and played in
a couple Marvel Super Heroes games. Been painting and collecting minis
and vehicles. Planning on a big life change in the next 6 months or so…
big move back to the JPN.
At paint night I continue to start projects more than finish them – though 5 Copplestone scavengers and 7 Artizan/Foundry/Unknown western figs are waiting merely burnt grass flock. And a platoon of 12 Dust Tactics US Infantry are nearly finished painting close behind. I still need to work on coming up with a paint scheme before I start laying color – the Copplestone troopers have been Simple Greened 3 or 4 times already as I start over – however I think I have their scheme figured now.
Purchases have been a lot of vehicles – several 1/50 Hotwheels G Machines as well as a few 1/50 diecasts from Solido, Jada and other manufactures to go with bigger scale minis I have. I also got a number of Siku, Lledo, Jada and Majorette 1/55-ish pieces to complement my collection of more true-scale vehicles for 28mm. Vehicle scale continues to be a multi approach deal – I pick up 1/55s as I see them and 1/50s as well. 50s I think look best with larger minis like Reapers and Victory Force, but the 55s are much better suited to most of my 28s – Foundry, Copplestone, EM4/Grenadier, Artizan, TAG etc. I have abandoned 1/43 though – going so far as to sell of a number of my grossly large 1/43 Russian trucks and such. Since Honorable Lead Boiler Suit has pulled the 40mm UltraModern line I really have no use for the 43s anymore. Of course Eric and Tony think 1/43 is right on – ’cause of course the average man’s chin should come up to the window sill of a VW Beetle… Sorry guys – most cars roofs are between sternum and nipple height compared to me… my Jeep is chin height and even my wife can see over the roof of the Fit. 1/55 is the stuff.
Played the 4th episode of the SW cyberpunk game last night – it’s finally gelled into a cohesive setting of general cyberpunk rather than any specific adaptation. And up on the horizon may be a post-apocalyptic game. With limited time left to game in the US, and other friends looking to play, a second project for off weeks seems a reasonable idea. PA gaming has been a draw to me for a while and recently it seems that many of my friends are interested in it too. Currently I’m thinking about game systems/setting…
1.D20 Modern: Post Apocalypse – love the
setting rules – find D20 too rules heavy given the rather unrealistic
feel (yeah I’m looking at you levels and hit points).
2. The Day After Ragnarok (Savage Worlds) – ’bout as cinematic (read: not-gritty) as D20 but way less rules dense. The setting is interesting – Nazi conjure up a Norse Apocalypse that is only averted with a nuke. It’s post apocalyptic 1940s by way of Robert E. Howard. Pulp world torn asunder by the non-Euclidean corpse of the Midgard serpent draped over Europe and Africa, leaking chaos. Sadly most of my minis and cars are post period.
3. Hell on Earth Reloaded (Savage Worlds) – also easy to run. Basically Deadlands moved into the future. The Weird West has been turned into the Wasted West by supernatural/nuclear/mad science apocalypse. Mutants, cultists, gunslingers, zombies – basically all you need in a world where the Civil War ended in a cold war between the Union and CSA. Andrew wants to play a Fist of the Northstar type and this setting seems best for that…
4.Gamma World (7e) – briefly considered
but really not appropriate for campaign play – as your character will
have different abilities based on the cards dealt you from game to game…
also GW is rather silly.
5. Atomic Highway – Newer system based on a d6 mechanic. Rules lite, with a customizable setting that can be as gritty as Book of Eli or include mutants and monsters ala Night of the Comet. Seems to have the best vehicle rules for a good Twisted Metal/Mad Max feel.
Must say that I lean currently toward Atomic Highway or Ragnarok currently – but I’m not decided yet…
So there – a post. Maybe the next one will come in a week… or whatever. Deal with it.
And then I didn’t post anything for a while… I fixed some tags and reuploaded some pics that got lost in the transfer (though there is still more to fix) but that was it.
So
what has been going on… well I have more interviews that don’t result
in full-time employment. My son had his first birthday. I’ve run a few
Daring Tales of the Sprawl (Savage Worlds cyberpunk) games and played in
a couple Marvel Super Heroes games. Been painting and collecting minis
and vehicles. Planning on a big life change in the next 6 months or so…
big move back to the JPN.At paint night I continue to start projects more than finish them – though 5 Copplestone scavengers and 7 Artizan/Foundry/Unknown western figs are waiting merely burnt grass flock. And a platoon of 12 Dust Tactics US Infantry are nearly finished painting close behind. I still need to work on coming up with a paint scheme before I start laying color – the Copplestone troopers have been Simple Greened 3 or 4 times already as I start over – however I think I have their scheme figured now.
Purchases have been a lot of vehicles – several 1/50 Hotwheels G Machines as well as a few 1/50 diecasts from Solido, Jada and other manufactures to go with bigger scale minis I have. I also got a number of Siku, Lledo, Jada and Majorette 1/55-ish pieces to complement my collection of more true-scale vehicles for 28mm. Vehicle scale continues to be a multi approach deal – I pick up 1/55s as I see them and 1/50s as well. 50s I think look best with larger minis like Reapers and Victory Force, but the 55s are much better suited to most of my 28s – Foundry, Copplestone, EM4/Grenadier, Artizan, TAG etc. I have abandoned 1/43 though – going so far as to sell of a number of my grossly large 1/43 Russian trucks and such. Since Honorable Lead Boiler Suit has pulled the 40mm UltraModern line I really have no use for the 43s anymore. Of course Eric and Tony think 1/43 is right on – ’cause of course the average man’s chin should come up to the window sill of a VW Beetle… Sorry guys – most cars roofs are between sternum and nipple height compared to me… my Jeep is chin height and even my wife can see over the roof of the Fit. 1/55 is the stuff.
Played the 4th episode of the SW cyberpunk game last night – it’s finally gelled into a cohesive setting of general cyberpunk rather than any specific adaptation. And up on the horizon may be a post-apocalyptic game. With limited time left to game in the US, and other friends looking to play, a second project for off weeks seems a reasonable idea. PA gaming has been a draw to me for a while and recently it seems that many of my friends are interested in it too. Currently I’m thinking about game systems/setting…
1.
2. The Day After Ragnarok (Savage Worlds) – ’bout as cinematic (read: not-gritty) as D20 but way less rules dense. The setting is interesting – Nazi conjure up a Norse Apocalypse that is only averted with a nuke. It’s post apocalyptic 1940s by way of Robert E. Howard. Pulp world torn asunder by the non-Euclidean corpse of the Midgard serpent draped over Europe and Africa, leaking chaos. Sadly most of my minis and cars are post period.
3. Hell on Earth Reloaded (Savage Worlds) – also easy to run. Basically Deadlands moved into the future. The Weird West has been turned into the Wasted West by supernatural/nuclear/mad science apocalypse. Mutants, cultists, gunslingers, zombies – basically all you need in a world where the Civil War ended in a cold war between the Union and CSA. Andrew wants to play a Fist of the Northstar type and this setting seems best for that…
4.
5. Atomic Highway – Newer system based on a d6 mechanic. Rules lite, with a customizable setting that can be as gritty as Book of Eli or include mutants and monsters ala Night of the Comet. Seems to have the best vehicle rules for a good Twisted Metal/Mad Max feel.
Must say that I lean currently toward Atomic Highway or Ragnarok currently – but I’m not decided yet…
So there – a post. Maybe the next one will come in a week… or whatever. Deal with it.
20120117
Where No Man Has Gone Before
So in my internet wanderings I’ve come across Old School Trek…
and the gaming boards therein. Of particular interest were the rules
“Where No Man Has Gone Before” – versions 1.0 and 2.0 a Star Trek RPG
using D20 and D20 MicroLite (extremely simplified D20) mechanics,
respectively.
In particular the 2.0 version got my attention and I immediately saw the potential of the rules. My only hesitation comes from the level/hit point mechanic of D20… cadets (lvl 1/2) will get knocked into sickbay by a frisbee – captains (lvl 9) can shrug off 4.5-9 times the damage… say a torpedo to the chest. This is an acknowledged flaw in the game, where the suggestion is to GM the matter: a character wades toward the Klingon knowing the disruptor won’t kill him gets vaporized by GM decree.
Um… no.
House rules
rules on “gritty damage” are suggested on the boards. They do away with
hit dice and use the Physical stat as HP. That is much better – but
the single physical stat will get points poured into it (better hp and
better damage – screw Charisma).
Also there are only a handful of skills. Know I don’t need Last Unicorn or FASA numbers of skills… but there should at least be a skill for each position/job). the transporter chief should have “transporters,” the helmsman should have “Helm,” and so on. So even with WNMHGB I’m looking at house ruling a number of things – skills and adding a END stat to use the gritty damage house rules with.
Sigh.
Then of course there is also the possibility of using Savage Worlds as the mechanic… essentially stripping out the D20 bits and replacing them with SW bits. The nice thing is that there is a vetted D20 to SW conversion… this is by far the most attractive option.
Yes, that is Paul Newman’s head stuck on William Shatner – I Gimp therefore I am.
In particular the 2.0 version got my attention and I immediately saw the potential of the rules. My only hesitation comes from the level/hit point mechanic of D20… cadets (lvl 1/2) will get knocked into sickbay by a frisbee – captains (lvl 9) can shrug off 4.5-9 times the damage… say a torpedo to the chest. This is an acknowledged flaw in the game, where the suggestion is to GM the matter: a character wades toward the Klingon knowing the disruptor won’t kill him gets vaporized by GM decree.
Um… no.
House rules
rules on “gritty damage” are suggested on the boards. They do away with
hit dice and use the Physical stat as HP. That is much better – but
the single physical stat will get points poured into it (better hp and
better damage – screw Charisma).Also there are only a handful of skills. Know I don’t need Last Unicorn or FASA numbers of skills… but there should at least be a skill for each position/job). the transporter chief should have “transporters,” the helmsman should have “Helm,” and so on. So even with WNMHGB I’m looking at house ruling a number of things – skills and adding a END stat to use the gritty damage house rules with.
Sigh.
Then of course there is also the possibility of using Savage Worlds as the mechanic… essentially stripping out the D20 bits and replacing them with SW bits. The nice thing is that there is a vetted D20 to SW conversion… this is by far the most attractive option.
Yes, that is Paul Newman’s head stuck on William Shatner – I Gimp therefore I am.
20110730
Aracnosian Conundrum
CAPTAIN’S LOG
STARDATE 7621.4
Having been pulled through some sort of rift, we find ourselves trapped in some sort of pocket universe. We’ve recovered a number of personnel from USS Hood. Hood herself remains fused to the alien craft and salvage is impossible. My engineer has scavenged the hulks and jury rigged most systems online – we are in dire need of dilithium though and our best bet seems to be a nearby rogue planet. Engines are operating at 23% and we should arrive within the hour.
Episode: 102
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop – 245 4th Ave, Pittsburgh
Time/Date: 6pm, 4th August 2011
STARDATE 7621.4
Having been pulled through some sort of rift, we find ourselves trapped in some sort of pocket universe. We’ve recovered a number of personnel from USS Hood. Hood herself remains fused to the alien craft and salvage is impossible. My engineer has scavenged the hulks and jury rigged most systems online – we are in dire need of dilithium though and our best bet seems to be a nearby rogue planet. Engines are operating at 23% and we should arrive within the hour.
Episode: 102
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop – 245 4th Ave, Pittsburgh
Time/Date: 6pm, 4th August 2011
20110721
Ghosts of Conscience
STARDATE 7620.1
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
STAR FLEET COMMAND
U.S.S. Oberon is directed to proceed with all possible haste to stellar coordinates -017.8 +072.8 +012.1. The commanding officer is entrusted with sealed orders to be opened on arrival at the specified coordinates, not before. This operation is classified and of the highest priority.
Commodore José I. Mendez
Commanding officer
Starbase 11
Episode: 101
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop – 245 4th Ave, Pittsburgh
Time/Date: 6pm, 20th July 2011
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
STAR FLEET COMMAND
U.S.S. Oberon is directed to proceed with all possible haste to stellar coordinates -017.8 +072.8 +012.1. The commanding officer is entrusted with sealed orders to be opened on arrival at the specified coordinates, not before. This operation is classified and of the highest priority.
Commodore José I. Mendez
Commanding officer
Starbase 11
Episode: 101
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop – 245 4th Ave, Pittsburgh
Time/Date: 6pm, 20th July 2011
20110718
Systems online.
U.S.S. OBERON
MIRANDA-CLASS – STARFLEET REGISTRY NCC-1880
COMMISSIONED STARDATE 6612.3
FIRST STARSHIP TO BEAR THE NAME
UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS
“And henceforth Goliath, you
and your clan shall be immune to my arts and shall become the Honor
Guard of Avalon from this day onward.”
Announcing a new Star Trek campaign using the Savage Worlds rules system.
Character generation and first adventure, “Ghosts of Conscience.”
When: Wednesday 20 July 2011 at 18:00
Where: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop
20110511
My RPGs, Right-wing or Wrong
Last week I posted an account of our first game of The Price of Freedom
(played in Oct ’10), I had intended to present some of the vehicles and
minis I’ve amassed in a sort of Victory Day Parade homage, but the last
few days have been rather hectic. I have a new son – arrived one month
early but healthy and cute. Additionally my wife, daughter and I all
have a strange flu-like cold, making any activity, beyond sleeping and
watching Top Gear, rather strenuous. Instead of the show of
military force… I present a few thoughts about the ridiculous
conservative crap my group found in The Price of Freedom.
To start with, in the game books are little asides, text boxes topped with Federal eagles. In one is the quote:
There is the small fact that the quote is taken completely out of
context. I know, shocking, right? For the record – here is the complete
quote:
It is not surprising that conservatives have taken the wise words of a liberal and completely twisted them to suit their base purposes. This is what keeps Jon Stewart in business.
My gaming group is a bunch of commie, pinko, tree-hugging, liberal fags. Several of us are militant, commie, pinko, tree-hugging. liberal, fags – that’s why we love action movies like Red Dawn, and war-based RPGs. That said, The Price of Freedom contains probably the most ridiculous setup for WWIII put to print. That includes John “I ain’t calling him ‘sir’” Hackett’s The Third World War.
I read a lot of WWIII fiction. The Third World War, The Third World War: The Untold Story, Red Storm Rising, Team Yankee, Cold War Hot, First Clash, Kibun wa mou Sensou manga, Bomb Comic’s World War III manga, and Red Army. Of all of these Red Army is my favorite. All WWIII fiction tends toward “Carter was a pussy / Reagan was a badass.” Hackett’s work is particularly critical of Carter, presenting a second Carter administration as the death knell for freedom. Yet in these stories – despite the liberals’ treasonous cuts to military spending and research – we kick the USSR’s ass. Red Army is different. The Soviets win. Now that is a lesson – “fear the USSR, because they can kick our ass unless we are prepared.”
TPoF reads like it was a pamphlet from the John Birch Society. Those are the guys who said: “Could Eisenhower really be simply a smart politician, entirely without principles and hungry for glory, who is only the tool of the Communists? The answer is yes.” I checked the box and the title pages of the game but I didn’t see their logo.
Still In just passing out the characters, the intensely right-wing
setting/writing furrowed eyebrows and caused eyes to roll. Jordo’s
near-fascist personality combined with being a blonde, blue-eyed
German-American was noted upon as being particularly tasteless.
Interestingly the drawing of Jordo looks nothing like his description –
much more like Ozzie Davis.
I read through the suggested campaign time-line with my players – where the American government (insinuated to be Democrat controlled) is lulled into signing START II, thereby allowing a belligerent USSR to achieve nuclear supremacy by developing a ballistic missile shield. Murphy the (most likely Democrat – how many Irish Republicans are outside of the PIRA?) president surrenders and Soviet forces arrive to occupy the US. Without wasting your time – it makes Red Dawn seem like a Noam Chomsky / Howard Zinn collaboration. Oddly it is months after the occupation starts before the Second Amendment is abolished. I’m a panty-waist liberal and I know I’d shoot me some Russians if they came marching down my street.
Ironic how START I and START II ended up being signed by a Republican
president. And that Carter did a better job of keeping NASA funded vs.
inflation than H.W. Bush did. Indeed several of the [mis]steps in the
time line are things that did come to pass under Republican
administrations – without precipitating a Soviet invasion. Huh… funny
how that works out. Historically it was Reagan’s anti-communist
rhetoric that scared the Soviets and kept the Kremlin in the hands of
the old guard. This nearly had disastrous consequences in 1983 when the
Able Archer exercises nearly resulted in a nuclear exchange. The world was not saved by Reagan – it was saved by Podpolkovnik Stanislav Petrov
who disobeyed orders to initiate a retaliatory strike. Gorbachev is
the architect of the downfall of the Soviet state, Reagan may have
extended its life. I recommend the BBC Documentary 1983: Brink of the Apocalypse and the ZDF film Der Dritte Weltkrieg, a counter-factual documentary highlighting the importance of Gorbachev.
The last page of the Player Book has an appeal entitled “A Note to Liberal Readers.” As I said above, it suggests that the game is a parody of a Right-wing nightmare. That is probably true – the various character profiles include socialists and liberals and athiests as the good guys. Greg Costikyan’s website doesn’t read like that of a wing-nut… his Facebook page lists Andrew Coumo as a like and he does have a penchant for extremely off-color parody (Violence: The RPG of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed). It seems clear that The Price of Freedom was written as a parody of the ridiculous fear-mongering and posturing of the conservatives in the 1970s and 1980s. The problem is that with the rise of douche-nozzles like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Dinesh D’Souza, Jerome Corsi, Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin et al, what was once a ridiculous joke, now reads like a lead off story at Fox News. The broad strokes of the plot are reasonable (for an RPG), the detail is crushingly paleoconservative – and like the Colbert Report proves, the Right-wing nuts don’t get parody. They revel in the message – oblivious to the sardonic undertones. Given the daily barrage of crap from real-life conservatives – my group and I don’t want it in our escapism. Christ, the symbol of the resistance in TPoF is the Gadsden Flag – forever tainted by its appropriation by the Teabagger Party.
Anyway – the setting detail may be (a parody of) ignorant, wing-nut,
bigoted, cracker crap, but the game mechanics are great! Perhaps I just
need to tweak it… change the timeline… add tough freedom fighter NPCs
who are a married, biracial gay couple. Things like that. I am more
tempted to use the Freedom Fighters video game setting, with everything going alternate because the Republicans kept us isolationist during WW2.
To start with, in the game books are little asides, text boxes topped with Federal eagles. In one is the quote:
“My Country, Right or Wrong.”
A long-time favorite bumper sticker of arch-conservatives, such as these douchebags: |
| What was wrong, Alex. |
I confidently trust that the American people will prove themselves … too wise not to detect the false pride or the dangerous ambitions or the selfish schemes which so often hide themselves under that deceptive cry of mock patriotism: ‘Our country, right or wrong!’ They will not fail to recognize that our dignity, our free institutions and the peace and welfare of this and coming generations of Americans will be secure only as we cling to the watchword of true patriotism: ‘Our country—when right to be kept right; when wrong to be put right.’
Carl Schurz, “The Policy of Imperialism,” Speeches,
Correspondence and Political Papers of Carl Schurz,
vol. 6, pp. 119–20 (1913)
Correspondence and Political Papers of Carl Schurz,
vol. 6, pp. 119–20 (1913)
It is not surprising that conservatives have taken the wise words of a liberal and completely twisted them to suit their base purposes. This is what keeps Jon Stewart in business.
My gaming group is a bunch of commie, pinko, tree-hugging, liberal fags. Several of us are militant, commie, pinko, tree-hugging. liberal, fags – that’s why we love action movies like Red Dawn, and war-based RPGs. That said, The Price of Freedom contains probably the most ridiculous setup for WWIII put to print. That includes John “I ain’t calling him ‘sir’” Hackett’s The Third World War.
I read a lot of WWIII fiction. The Third World War, The Third World War: The Untold Story, Red Storm Rising, Team Yankee, Cold War Hot, First Clash, Kibun wa mou Sensou manga, Bomb Comic’s World War III manga, and Red Army. Of all of these Red Army is my favorite. All WWIII fiction tends toward “Carter was a pussy / Reagan was a badass.” Hackett’s work is particularly critical of Carter, presenting a second Carter administration as the death knell for freedom. Yet in these stories – despite the liberals’ treasonous cuts to military spending and research – we kick the USSR’s ass. Red Army is different. The Soviets win. Now that is a lesson – “fear the USSR, because they can kick our ass unless we are prepared.”
TPoF reads like it was a pamphlet from the John Birch Society. Those are the guys who said: “Could Eisenhower really be simply a smart politician, entirely without principles and hungry for glory, who is only the tool of the Communists? The answer is yes.” I checked the box and the title pages of the game but I didn’t see their logo.
 |
| “Lets go kill some Russkies!” |
I read through the suggested campaign time-line with my players – where the American government (insinuated to be Democrat controlled) is lulled into signing START II, thereby allowing a belligerent USSR to achieve nuclear supremacy by developing a ballistic missile shield. Murphy the (most likely Democrat – how many Irish Republicans are outside of the PIRA?) president surrenders and Soviet forces arrive to occupy the US. Without wasting your time – it makes Red Dawn seem like a Noam Chomsky / Howard Zinn collaboration. Oddly it is months after the occupation starts before the Second Amendment is abolished. I’m a panty-waist liberal and I know I’d shoot me some Russians if they came marching down my street.
 |
| Um… nearly exterminate the human race. |
The last page of the Player Book has an appeal entitled “A Note to Liberal Readers.” As I said above, it suggests that the game is a parody of a Right-wing nightmare. That is probably true – the various character profiles include socialists and liberals and athiests as the good guys. Greg Costikyan’s website doesn’t read like that of a wing-nut… his Facebook page lists Andrew Coumo as a like and he does have a penchant for extremely off-color parody (Violence: The RPG of Egregious and Repulsive Bloodshed). It seems clear that The Price of Freedom was written as a parody of the ridiculous fear-mongering and posturing of the conservatives in the 1970s and 1980s. The problem is that with the rise of douche-nozzles like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Dinesh D’Souza, Jerome Corsi, Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin et al, what was once a ridiculous joke, now reads like a lead off story at Fox News. The broad strokes of the plot are reasonable (for an RPG), the detail is crushingly paleoconservative – and like the Colbert Report proves, the Right-wing nuts don’t get parody. They revel in the message – oblivious to the sardonic undertones. Given the daily barrage of crap from real-life conservatives – my group and I don’t want it in our escapism. Christ, the symbol of the resistance in TPoF is the Gadsden Flag – forever tainted by its appropriation by the Tea
 |
| An image forever tainted |
20110507
The PATH to Freedom
Back in October I had my first game of The Price of Freedom
(TPoF) with my group. Present were Eric, Ryan, Geis and myself. We
decided to use the pre-generated characters and play the adventure as
written (in NYC), putting off the avatar campaign until we are
comfortable with the rules. Actually we ended up playing a number of Savage Worlds powered games in the months that followed.
Anyway this is what happened back in October 2010:
Characters were chosen as follows:
Eric – Moishe Cohen
Ryan – Billy Bartsow
Geis – Jordan “Jordo” Miller
The initial adventure, “The Path of Freedom,” began with three PCs meeting in the apartment of Moische Cohen – 72 year-old former Polish freedom-fighter. They discussed the imminent arrival of the Soviet occupation forces and quickly decided to get the hell out of the city. On the way out they heard sobs from the next door apartment. Moishe expressed sympathy for the widow within – a fine lady who had also escaped from behind the Iron Curtain – but he did not stop to comfort her. As they piled into Billy’s pick-up, Moishe asked if they wouldn’t mind stopping by the 14th Street Armory to see if his friend, Westtree, was there, and if he would join them. With the agreement of the others they started south on 7th Avenue, amid the looters in a city in panic.
South of 19th they came across a makeshift roadblock. Four street gang members had blocked the road with burned out cars and other debris. The gangers stopped beating the kid they had jumped and pulled firearms on the truck. From behind, a gang-painted Cadillac blocked the avenue of retreat and gun muzzles protruded from its windows. Boxed in, Billy decided to ram the weakest looking part of the barricade, while Moishe and Jordo fired on the gangers. Between Jordo’s Uzi and Moishe’s pistol, two gangers were killed and another wounded. The gangers shot the truck up pretty good – blowing out both tires on the passenger’s side – before scattering to find less dangerous prey. Moishe grabbed the gangers victim and pushed him in the truck. Then the vehicle moved slowly, on bare rims, toward the Armory.
Outside of the Armory was a military roadblock, errected by the
loyalist National Guard soldiers. The sergeant (a reversely-racist
Hispanic NCO with stereotypically poor grammar) manning the barricade
refused to recognize Jordo’s credentials or admit him. Miller (as
played by Geis) was much less of an ass than written to be so, when
faced with Sgt. Morales and his insubordination, he called over the next
highest ranking soldier and calmly relieved the sergeant of duty.
Inside the Armory the trio met Colonel Samadi, the unit’s commanding officer. Rather than lay down arms, the Colonel has decided to shanghai weapons and light vehicles through the Port Authority Trans-Hudson tunnel beneath the Armory out to New Jersey. From there, the men will disperse throughout rural PA and NY to attack the Soviets, guerrilla-style. Our trio volunteers to help and is given a pair of CUCVs to repaint and load with weapons. Stolen civilian plates are screwed on the bumpers and the vehicles are made ready.
The convoy rolls down a makeshift ramp, through passages dynamited by the engineers, into the subway and then the PATH tunnel. The trip is slow and dark as they move under the river and under Jersey City. Then a collision up front brings the column to a halt. As the passage is cleared, word comes back that one of the NG saboteur teams failed to blow the “Communipaw Bridge” (aka Lincoln Highway Bridge), between Jersey City and Newark. Miller, who has demolitions experience from his days in Vietam, is tapped to take out the bridge. Doing so will hamper the movement of Soviet forces and buy time for the NG teams to escape and disperse.
The trio of men commandeer a vehicle from the front of the column and load it with the required supplies. They then move out of the tunnel and through bumper-to-bumper traffic toward the Communipaw Bridge. Once there they quickly set the charges and take up positions in a factory warehouse on the Jersey City side of the river. The bridge is jammed with civilian traffic as panicked people try to escape the city. Unwilling to harm the civilians the team decides to wait for the arrival of the first Soviet troops. It is hoped that they will clear the bridge for their own uses, and once that is done – the destruction of the bridge will include a squad or two of Soviet forces.
The Soviets arrive in commandeered vehicles and begin sweeping the
bridge. However they begin to examine the bridge before it is
completely free of civilian traffic. In order to divert attention from
demolition charges and expedite the evacuation of the civilians, Barstow
snipes at the Soviet officer on the Newark side of the bridge. He hits
and wounds the man. Most of the Soviets panic and are pinned, while
their comrades search for the source of the fire. In this way Barstow
is able to loose a few more shots before taking any fire. As the Soviet
soldiers move to the edge of the bridge over the outlet, Jordo sprays
them with AR fire, wounding several. Barstow kills another before
taking a wound that could have been very serious (hero point used to
reduce wound to light). As the last of the civilians clear the bridge –
increasingly intense fire hits the factory building. Moishe pushes the
detonator and the bridge and 15 Soviet troops go into the water.
With the objective achieved the trio hightail it back to the Path tunnel, retrieve their vehicles, snag a few more goodies from a grateful Colonel, and disperse to continue the fight against the Soviets.
In all a great game. Combat works well, with a believable level of lethality, and a smooth game mechanic. The only thing we disliked was the widespread panic of the opposition. Soviets must roll for nerve every round, which makes them a bunch of pussies. The Soviet Union was a highly militarized society, with all children receiving weapons training. While conscription was for two years, it was based on this preformed military knowledge. Indeed the photos of back-flipping shovel throwing soldiers doesn’t jibe with the Keystone Cop feeling engendered by the panic rules. They will have to be adjusted.
In all, we want to play the game as we envisioned it – a Red Dawn RPG. The background provided in the game books is patently ridiculous, and sometimes offensive. Soviet invasion of the US is a pretty far stretch to begin with, but I believe Red Dawn‘s chain of events is eminently more believable – or my own idea of a Soviet move to decapitate and secure America’s nuclear arsenal before it can be used against Russia (a preemptive defensive invasion ala Iraq 2003) – or the setup presented in the Freedom Fighters video game (it even allows for cool modern Russian toys!). We intended to play a few more games with the pregen characters, in order to get comfortable with the rules before starting an Avatar campaign in one of those two settings – but real life and other games took over.
Anyway this is what happened back in October 2010:
Characters were chosen as follows:
Eric – Moishe Cohen
Ryan – Billy Bartsow
Geis – Jordan “Jordo” Miller
The initial adventure, “The Path of Freedom,” began with three PCs meeting in the apartment of Moische Cohen – 72 year-old former Polish freedom-fighter. They discussed the imminent arrival of the Soviet occupation forces and quickly decided to get the hell out of the city. On the way out they heard sobs from the next door apartment. Moishe expressed sympathy for the widow within – a fine lady who had also escaped from behind the Iron Curtain – but he did not stop to comfort her. As they piled into Billy’s pick-up, Moishe asked if they wouldn’t mind stopping by the 14th Street Armory to see if his friend, Westtree, was there, and if he would join them. With the agreement of the others they started south on 7th Avenue, amid the looters in a city in panic.
South of 19th they came across a makeshift roadblock. Four street gang members had blocked the road with burned out cars and other debris. The gangers stopped beating the kid they had jumped and pulled firearms on the truck. From behind, a gang-painted Cadillac blocked the avenue of retreat and gun muzzles protruded from its windows. Boxed in, Billy decided to ram the weakest looking part of the barricade, while Moishe and Jordo fired on the gangers. Between Jordo’s Uzi and Moishe’s pistol, two gangers were killed and another wounded. The gangers shot the truck up pretty good – blowing out both tires on the passenger’s side – before scattering to find less dangerous prey. Moishe grabbed the gangers victim and pushed him in the truck. Then the vehicle moved slowly, on bare rims, toward the Armory.
 |
| 14th Street Armory |
Inside the Armory the trio met Colonel Samadi, the unit’s commanding officer. Rather than lay down arms, the Colonel has decided to shanghai weapons and light vehicles through the Port Authority Trans-Hudson tunnel beneath the Armory out to New Jersey. From there, the men will disperse throughout rural PA and NY to attack the Soviets, guerrilla-style. Our trio volunteers to help and is given a pair of CUCVs to repaint and load with weapons. Stolen civilian plates are screwed on the bumpers and the vehicles are made ready.
The convoy rolls down a makeshift ramp, through passages dynamited by the engineers, into the subway and then the PATH tunnel. The trip is slow and dark as they move under the river and under Jersey City. Then a collision up front brings the column to a halt. As the passage is cleared, word comes back that one of the NG saboteur teams failed to blow the “Communipaw Bridge” (aka Lincoln Highway Bridge), between Jersey City and Newark. Miller, who has demolitions experience from his days in Vietam, is tapped to take out the bridge. Doing so will hamper the movement of Soviet forces and buy time for the NG teams to escape and disperse.
The trio of men commandeer a vehicle from the front of the column and load it with the required supplies. They then move out of the tunnel and through bumper-to-bumper traffic toward the Communipaw Bridge. Once there they quickly set the charges and take up positions in a factory warehouse on the Jersey City side of the river. The bridge is jammed with civilian traffic as panicked people try to escape the city. Unwilling to harm the civilians the team decides to wait for the arrival of the first Soviet troops. It is hoped that they will clear the bridge for their own uses, and once that is done – the destruction of the bridge will include a squad or two of Soviet forces.
 |
| “Communipaw” aka Lincoln Highway Bridge |
With the objective achieved the trio hightail it back to the Path tunnel, retrieve their vehicles, snag a few more goodies from a grateful Colonel, and disperse to continue the fight against the Soviets.
In all a great game. Combat works well, with a believable level of lethality, and a smooth game mechanic. The only thing we disliked was the widespread panic of the opposition. Soviets must roll for nerve every round, which makes them a bunch of pussies. The Soviet Union was a highly militarized society, with all children receiving weapons training. While conscription was for two years, it was based on this preformed military knowledge. Indeed the photos of back-flipping shovel throwing soldiers doesn’t jibe with the Keystone Cop feeling engendered by the panic rules. They will have to be adjusted.
In all, we want to play the game as we envisioned it – a Red Dawn RPG. The background provided in the game books is patently ridiculous, and sometimes offensive. Soviet invasion of the US is a pretty far stretch to begin with, but I believe Red Dawn‘s chain of events is eminently more believable – or my own idea of a Soviet move to decapitate and secure America’s nuclear arsenal before it can be used against Russia (a preemptive defensive invasion ala Iraq 2003) – or the setup presented in the Freedom Fighters video game (it even allows for cool modern Russian toys!). We intended to play a few more games with the pregen characters, in order to get comfortable with the rules before starting an Avatar campaign in one of those two settings – but real life and other games took over.
20110505
An Unscheduled Update…
Since my last post the world has changed a little bit. Osama bin
Laden was shot twice in the face by DevGru SEALs in Pakistan on the
2nd. The circumstances of his death were a testament to his life, he
died a coward’s death using his wife as a human shield. After
confirming his identity, his body was prepared according to Islamic
custom and buried at sea – far better treatment than he offered any of
his victims.
There is news on the gaming front as well. I am pleased to have found a copy of TPoF Gamemaster’s Pack, which is currently on it’s way Wayne’s World of Books – hopefully arriving later today. This will complete my TPoF collection, giving me hardcopy access to all materials for the game. The second copy of the box set arrived, and I was very pleased to find it a near mint condition copy – all data annexes, map and books in great condition, chits unpunched and original d20 intact.
Also on the way via various postal and delivery services, are:
28x 40mm UltraModern Miniatures from HLBS Co.
1x 3rd Special forces group/CIA civvies gear (4 figs to be used as PCs)
1x Motor rifle troops (4 figs)
1x VDV airborne (4 figs)
1x VDV Airborne II (4 figs)
1x MVD Interior Ministry troops Grozny (4 figs to be used as Spetsnaz)
1x Guards with LMGs (4 figs to use as Motor Rifles)
1x Dismounted armoured crews (4 figs)
2x DeAgostini diecast UAZ-469/469B (1/43)
13x Maisto diecast Ford Crown Victoria (1/44)
1x New Ray 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible
2x Kitech BTR-70 APC model kits (1/48)
1x Kitech T-80U MBT model kit (1/48)
1x Kitech M1A2 Abrams MBT model kit (1/48)
1x Kitech M2 Bradley IFV model kit (1/48)
1x Maisto diecast HMMWV (1/40)
The Crown Vics will be repainted and used for police cruisers, unmarked/civilian cars, and taxis. The Cadillac was purchased specifically for an appropriated command car ala Red Dawn. The car in the movie was a ’64 Caddy Series 62… this was as close as I could get for $7. The Kitech kits are cheap models that can be greatly improved visually with a little work. The Maisto HMMWV is labelled 1/40 but is closer to 1/48 in size.
There is news on the gaming front as well. I am pleased to have found a copy of TPoF Gamemaster’s Pack, which is currently on it’s way Wayne’s World of Books – hopefully arriving later today. This will complete my TPoF collection, giving me hardcopy access to all materials for the game. The second copy of the box set arrived, and I was very pleased to find it a near mint condition copy – all data annexes, map and books in great condition, chits unpunched and original d20 intact.
Also on the way via various postal and delivery services, are:
28x 40mm UltraModern Miniatures from HLBS Co.
1x 3rd Special forces group/CIA civvies gear (4 figs to be used as PCs)
1x Motor rifle troops (4 figs)
1x VDV airborne (4 figs)
1x VDV Airborne II (4 figs)
1x MVD Interior Ministry troops Grozny (4 figs to be used as Spetsnaz)
1x Guards with LMGs (4 figs to use as Motor Rifles)
1x Dismounted armoured crews (4 figs)
2x DeAgostini diecast UAZ-469/469B (1/43)
13x Maisto diecast Ford Crown Victoria (1/44)
1x New Ray 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible
2x Kitech BTR-70 APC model kits (1/48)
1x Kitech T-80U MBT model kit (1/48)
1x Kitech M1A2 Abrams MBT model kit (1/48)
1x Kitech M2 Bradley IFV model kit (1/48)
1x Maisto diecast HMMWV (1/40)
The Crown Vics will be repainted and used for police cruisers, unmarked/civilian cars, and taxis. The Cadillac was purchased specifically for an appropriated command car ala Red Dawn. The car in the movie was a ’64 Caddy Series 62… this was as close as I could get for $7. The Kitech kits are cheap models that can be greatly improved visually with a little work. The Maisto HMMWV is labelled 1/40 but is closer to 1/48 in size.
20110502
May Day Parade
It’s May Day…. the day unions, socialists, communists and leftists
demonstrate and celebrate the toils of the laborer. It also means that
the Victory Day Parade is just over a week away… the time when the
Soviet Union used to show its military might to mark the anniversary of
German capitulation and the end of the Great Patriotic War.
Ah, Soviets… I miss the Soviet Union.
Round about 1992, I bought a copy of West End Games Star Trek: The Adventure Game, which included in the box a WEG catalog. Many WEG games interested me, they had the Star Wars RPG and Ghostbusters. But what caught my eye 19 years ago was The Price of Freedom (TPoF) – what sounded like a Red Dawn roleplaying game.
Last fall I stumbled over out the blog Cold War Hot Hot Hot, and the work there inspired me to look into this type of gaming. I initially thought of using some of the 1/72 scale military models I’ve collected over the years, and began repainting several Bravo Team vehicles I snagged at Target last year. However the idea of 15-20mm gaming doesn’t appeal to me as much as larger scale gaming. I have some Ameri-Towne buildings, a number of larger diecast cars from a superheroes campaign (run using Heroclix), and have ordered a few HLBS 40mm UltraModern Russians and some Russian diecasts. Maybe some of these will get here in time for a mini Victory Day Parade.
Things Cold War have begun to appeal to me again recently – and with no campaigns panning out since my 3 year Deadlands campaign ended, I hope a TPoF avatar campaign might pan out.
Fingers crossed.
Campaigns and I have not been agreeing lately – I tend to go for big-idea games that I never really get off the ground. I had very much wanted to do a Crimson Skies RPG using the Savage Worlds system, but several attempts at simulating air combat with those rules were not fulfilling. Indeed constant running of Savage Worlds powered systems over the past few years has got me looking for something else. An initial game of TPoF back in October played well enough – though the arch-conservative wing-nuttiness (more on this later) of the presented campaign was tiresome.
My hopes are that the games will be mindless fun – and keep me focused on modern gaming to get the collection of cars and buildings I have collected into something pretty.
Ah, Soviets… I miss the Soviet Union.
Round about 1992, I bought a copy of West End Games Star Trek: The Adventure Game, which included in the box a WEG catalog. Many WEG games interested me, they had the Star Wars RPG and Ghostbusters. But what caught my eye 19 years ago was The Price of Freedom (TPoF) – what sounded like a Red Dawn roleplaying game.
“In The Price of Freedom, you play an American who chooses to resist the Communist occupiers. You must find the weapons and leadership to resist effectively. The invaders have absolute nuclear supremacy; regular military opposition is impossible. The only way they can be defeated is to make the occupation of America so costly that they must withdraw. But remember; no occupied nation has ever liberated itself without outside help. And we have no one to help us. The fate of America is in your hands.”It’s now nearly two decades later and I have secured myself not one but two copies of the main box, the supplement Your Own Private Idaho as well as a PDF edition of the Gamemasters Pack. The first set is in good repair and only seems to be missing some of the data files, notably Data File A, my hopes are that the second set will fill these missing holes – but it is still in transit. I’m still happy with the original purchase from a Canadian seller – oddly the second copy is also on its way from Canada…
Last fall I stumbled over out the blog Cold War Hot Hot Hot, and the work there inspired me to look into this type of gaming. I initially thought of using some of the 1/72 scale military models I’ve collected over the years, and began repainting several Bravo Team vehicles I snagged at Target last year. However the idea of 15-20mm gaming doesn’t appeal to me as much as larger scale gaming. I have some Ameri-Towne buildings, a number of larger diecast cars from a superheroes campaign (run using Heroclix), and have ordered a few HLBS 40mm UltraModern Russians and some Russian diecasts. Maybe some of these will get here in time for a mini Victory Day Parade.
Things Cold War have begun to appeal to me again recently – and with no campaigns panning out since my 3 year Deadlands campaign ended, I hope a TPoF avatar campaign might pan out.
Fingers crossed.
Campaigns and I have not been agreeing lately – I tend to go for big-idea games that I never really get off the ground. I had very much wanted to do a Crimson Skies RPG using the Savage Worlds system, but several attempts at simulating air combat with those rules were not fulfilling. Indeed constant running of Savage Worlds powered systems over the past few years has got me looking for something else. An initial game of TPoF back in October played well enough – though the arch-conservative wing-nuttiness (more on this later) of the presented campaign was tiresome.
My hopes are that the games will be mindless fun – and keep me focused on modern gaming to get the collection of cars and buildings I have collected into something pretty.
20101230
Operations Order #101229
Delta Green/Realms of Cthulhu Demo Game
Come for the Reaping
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop, 245 Fourth Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15222
Phone: 412-281-9040
Time & Date: 29 December 2010 @ 5:00PM
“You are cordially invited to a night at the opera…”
This Saturday I will be running the adventure Come for the Reaping as an Explorer’s Society demo of Reality Blurs’ Realms of Cthulhu. The adventure will be set in the mid-1990s in the Delta Greensetting. Up to 6 players will portray Delta Green agents or friendlies. We start at 5pm and expect the game to finish at approximately 10pm. Our normal habit is to secure pizza as a group from Ephesus Pizza up the street.
UPDATE
Setting: Los Angeles, CA – 29 December 1995
Participants in this game: Agent Peter Johnson (FBI), Jennifer Gage (LACoFD – paramedic), Gharret Reese (civilian – criminal)
Come for the Reaping
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop, 245 Fourth Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15222
Phone: 412-281-9040
Time & Date: 29 December 2010 @ 5:00PM
“You are cordially invited to a night at the opera…”
This Saturday I will be running the adventure Come for the Reaping as an Explorer’s Society demo of Reality Blurs’ Realms of Cthulhu. The adventure will be set in the mid-1990s in the Delta Greensetting. Up to 6 players will portray Delta Green agents or friendlies. We start at 5pm and expect the game to finish at approximately 10pm. Our normal habit is to secure pizza as a group from Ephesus Pizza up the street.
UPDATE
Setting: Los Angeles, CA – 29 December 1995
Participants in this game: Agent Peter Johnson (FBI), Jennifer Gage (LACoFD – paramedic), Gharret Reese (civilian – criminal)
20101204
Operations Order #101210
Delta Green/Realms of Cthulhu Demo Game
Winter Break
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop, 245 Fourth Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15222
Phone: 412-281-9040
Time & Date: 10 December 2010 @ 5:00PM
“You are cordially invited to a night at the opera…”
This Saturday I will be running the one-sheet adventure Winter Break as an Explorer’s Society demo of Reality Blurs’ Realms of Cthulhu. The adventure will be set in the mid-1990s in the Delta Green setting. Up to 6 players will portray Delta Green agents or friendlies. We start at 5pm and expect the game to finish at approximately 10pm. Our normal habit is to secure pizza as a group from Ephesus Pizza up the street.
Winter Break
Location: Bill & Walt’s Hobby Shop, 245 Fourth Ave, Pittsburgh PA 15222
Phone: 412-281-9040
Time & Date: 10 December 2010 @ 5:00PM
“You are cordially invited to a night at the opera…”
This Saturday I will be running the one-sheet adventure Winter Break as an Explorer’s Society demo of Reality Blurs’ Realms of Cthulhu. The adventure will be set in the mid-1990s in the Delta Green setting. Up to 6 players will portray Delta Green agents or friendlies. We start at 5pm and expect the game to finish at approximately 10pm. Our normal habit is to secure pizza as a group from Ephesus Pizza up the street.
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